Airing of 3 Indian channels: Hearing on appeal against HC verdict Oct 22

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court has fixed October 22 for hearing an appeal filed against a High Court order that rejected a petition seeking ban on airing three Indian TV channels – Star Jalsha, Star Plus and Zee Bangla – in Bangladesh.
Ekhlas Uddin Bhuiyan, attorney of the petitioner, confirmed this to reporters on Wednesday after Appellate Division Chamber Judge Hasan Fayez Siddique had fixed the date, reports the Bangla Tribune
On February 20, Ekhlas filed the petition with the Supreme Court after the High Court bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hassan rejected the previous petition on January 29, saying: “In the era of digitalisation it is not fair to stop the airing of television channels which have been abiding laws, but at the same time it is not desirable that any channel airs anything hampering the country’s cultural and social norms.”
The bench also asked the committee concerned to keep vigil and promptly respond to any type of complaint about the channels.
Lawyer Syeda Shahin Ara Laily filed the writ in October 2014 in the form of a public interest litigation seeking necessary order from the High Court to stop the operation of the three channels in Bangladesh, arguing that they have been making an adverse impact on social life of the country’s people.
Incidents like child killing, quarrel among spouses and murder are on the rise as an impact of programmes the TV channels telecast, on the one hand, and programmes of Bangladeshi TV channels are also losing popularity, on the other, she mentioned in the petition.
Laily also noted that the operation of the Indian satellite channels should be banned in the country as Bangladeshi television channels were not allowed to be aired in India.
Singing the same tune, local radical Islamist parties and groups allege that the serials aired in the channels were contrary to Islamic values and create chaos in Bangladeshi families.
In 2014, several girls committed suicide across the country as their parents refused to buy them "Pakhi" (bird in English) dresses, a special costume used by a popular character in a drama serial named Bojhena She Bojhena on Star Plus. Moreover, on some occasions brawl over watching these channels often turn into violent clashes, according to media reports.